Recommenation-based electronic program guides with user-imperceptible preferences

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for enabling the operators of television broadcasting systems or other content distribution systems to effectively alter the program viewing patterns of viewers or subscribers to direct viewership traffic to selected television programs or other content. In a recommendation based EPG system, the rating or recommendation assigned to a program is increased or decreased in accordance with the desire of the operator to increase or decrease viewership or in exchange for monetary or other consideration from content providers, advertisers or others. In one aspect, a boost value is applied to alter the recommended rating/ranking of program content, including selectively in a manner which may be substantially imperceptible to viewers. In another aspect, a sponsored program is assigned a premium position in a list of programs in exchange for receipt of monetary or other consideration. In another aspect, the program may be given an ordinal boost, elevating the program by one or more positions in a rank-ordered list of recommendations. In still another aspect, premium positions in the list are auctioned, or greater consideration is collected for providing higher values of ordinal or numerical boost.

PRIORITY CLAIM

[0001] The present application claims the priority of co-pendingprovisional application Serial Nos. 60/359,929 and 60/359,873 filed onFeb. 25, 2002, Attorney References PRNW-101 and 102, respectively.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

[0002] The present application for United States Patent incorporates byreference the following commonly-owned patent applications:

[0003] WO 0120481A2 {Predictive Network PCT application};

[0004] U.S. Patent Application No. 60/338,398 filed Dec. 7, 2001;

[0005] U.S. Patent Application entitled: “Television Program NavigationGuide” filed Dec. 5, 2001;

[0006] U.S. Patent Application entitled: “Method and System forSelective Initial Television Channel Display” filed Oct. 22, 2001;

[0007] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/969,911 filed Oct. 3, 2001;

[0008] U.S. Patent Application entitled: “Method and System for ParsingPurchase Information from Web Pages filed Aug. 29, 2001;

[0009] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/928,493 filed Aug. 13, 2001;

[0010] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/877,974 filed Jun. 7, 2001;

[0011] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/558,755 filed Apr. 21, 2001;

[0012] U.S. Patent Application No. 60/282,028 filed Apr. 6, 2001;

[0013] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/798,337 filed Mar. 2, 2001;

[0014] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/777,807 filed Feb. 5, 2001;

[0015] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/767,693 filed Jan. 23, 2001;and

[0016] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/766,377 filed Jan. 19, 2001.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0017] The present invention relates generally to television and othercontent distribution systems, and in particular, relates to methods ofmodifying viewership traffic using electronic programming guides capableof receiving automatically determined recommendations.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0018] Electronic Program Guides (EPGs) are specialized graphical userinterfaces (GUIs) that allow users to navigate through a multiple ofprograms available for viewing or reproduction. Many EPGs present one ormore layered displays—often available on a dedicated televisionchannel—to give a user an inventory of programs available for viewing orreproduction, as well as schedules and other details (e.g., channels,program length, program synopsis, etc.) about the programs. Pointingdevices are often used to control and navigate within the displays, aswell as to activate links to the programs of interest. EPGs areespecially useful for television viewers who can receive dozens or evenhundreds of television channels, as is increasingly the case forsubscribers of cable and satellite television services.

[0019] Various configurations of EPGs and associated methods, systemsand devices are disclosed in the following U.S. and foreign patentdocuments, among others, the disclosures of which are incorporatedherein by reference as if set forth in their entirety here: U.S. Pat.No. 6,177,931 Alexander et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,163,316 Killian U.S. Pat.No. 6,005,597 Barrett et al. WO 0049801A1 Yuen et al. WO 0033224A1 Yuen

[0020] More recently, EPG providers have begun to investigate the use ofrecommendation systems to enhance EPG/user interaction qualities byproviding a preferred location to content determined to be of specialinterest to the viewer, making such content easier to find, andimproving the overall user experience. Many of these prior art EPGsystems continue to utilize on-screen advertisements as a method ofgenerating additional revenue for the service provider (cable operator,system administrator or other entities).

[0021] One such arrangement, for example, involves the display ofadvertisements in the EPG display window, in exchange for receipt ofpayment or other consideration from content providers or advertisers.Onscreen advertisements, however, are relatively ineffective, and thusan inefficient source of revenue for advertisers, because in an EPGsetting, the attention of the viewer is focused on deciding what towatch next, rather than on the advertisements; and because suchon-screen advertisements typically require a lengthy interaction withthe EPG in order to be effective. Long-duration interaction is typicallyunavailable, since an intrinsic purpose of EPGs is to facilitate channelselection, by minimizing interaction time with the EPG while maximizingtime for viewing desired programming.

[0022] Historically, cable operators had a limited capacity of channelsthey could broadcast to their subscribers, and were thus able toeffectively sell the relatively scarce (and thus valuable) placement intheir lineup to content providers. Today, operators of cable, otherterrestrial, and satellite television systems can offer hundreds ofchannels to their viewers, and as a result, the value of a givenplacement in the lineup is diminished, to the point where systemoperators are no longer able to sell placement in their lineups.

[0023] What is therefore desirable, but non-existent, are methods,devices and systems that would enable system operators to selectivelyenhance, or otherwise modify or direct, viewership of selectedtelevision shows or other content. What is also desirable are methods,devices and systems to enable system operators to derive additionalrevenue in exchange for such enhancement or modification of viewership.It is also desirable to provide such methods adapted for deployment inan EPG environment. Further, it is desirable to provide such methodsthat can operate in a manner substantially imperceptible to viewers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0024] In view of the aforementioned problems and deficiencies of theprior art, one aspect of the present invention provides methods andapparatus for enabling the operators of television broadcasting systemsor other content distribution systems to effectively alter the viewingpatterns of viewers or subscribers, and, in the aggregate, to directviewership traffic to selected television shows or other content.

[0025] In the context of a recommendation-based EPG system, oneembodiment of the invention accomplishes this aim by enabling a selectedincrease or decrease in the rating or recommendation assigned to atelevision show (or other content) in accordance with the desire of theoperator to increase or decrease viewership for the show in question.

[0026] In another aspect of the invention, methods, systems and devicesare provided for enabling this selective increase or decrease in amanner substantially imperceptible to viewers.

[0027] In a further aspect of the invention, the selective increase ordecrease can be provided in exchange for receipt of monetary or otherconsideration from content providers, advertisers or others.

[0028] In one practice of the invention, the selective increase ordecrease takes the form of sponsored recommendations, in which aparticular show for which viewership is to be augmented or “boosted” isassigned a “premium” position in a list of recommended shows, inexchange for receipt of monetary or other consideration.

[0029] In another practice of the invention, a show can be assigned anordinal boost, such that the show is elevated by one or more positionsin an rank-ordered list of recommendations.

[0030] In yet another practice of the invention, the monetary or otherconsideration collected can be augmented or maximized through theprocess of auctioning premium positions in the list, or by collectinggreater consideration for providing higher values of ordinal ornumerical boost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

[0031] Features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from the description below, withreference to the following drawing figures, in which:

[0032]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a content distribution systemembodying the present invention;

[0033]FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the layout of an exemplary userinterface illustrating the principles of the present invention;

[0034]FIG. 3 illustrates a conventional recommendation-based electronicprogramming guide;

[0035]FIG. 4 a general illustration of a electronic programming guideutilizing the present invention; and

[0036]FIG. 5 is an illustration that exemplifies the methods ofmodifying viewership as taught in the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0037]FIG. 1 illustrates a content delivery system 100 as in the presentinvention. The content delivery system 100 includes a server 102 forproviding program content to a client platform 104. The client platform104 includes a television monitor 106 for viewing program content, aremote control unit 108 for selecting and controlling program content,and an electronic program guide (EPG) system 110. Within the EPG system110, according to the present invention, there is shown a profile engine112, a recommendation engine 114, and a user interface (UI) 116, whichmay include multiple layered screens. The EPG system 110 also includes atraffic engine 1118, which will be described further on.

[0038] The recommendation engine 114 is a software module that rateseach television show or other content available for viewing, using knownmethods described in the U.S. and foreign patent documents incorporatedherein by reference. In particular, the recommendation engine 114 mayuse profile information made available by profile engine 112 to generatethe ratings or recommendations. One or more user interfaces 116 make useof these ratings to assist the viewer in finding desired programming,often by generating ordered, ranked lists of shows and giving preferredplacement within such lists to shows with higher ratings. The lists arethen displayed to viewers using known user methods and devices in the UIlayer 116.

[0039] The structure and operation of conventional EPG and IPG systems,as well as associated television systems, Internet systems, andsubscriber devices, including set-top boxes (STBs), monitors, pointingdevices and other control devices, are well-known in the art. Examplesare set forth in the U.S. and foreign patent documents listed above, theteachings of which are incorporated herein by reference as if set forthherein in their entirety. Many viewers rely on the ordered, ranked listsgenerated by such EPGs to select programs to be viewed. For example, aviewer might select an option such as “show highest ranked Sportsprogram” for his or her next one-hour segment of viewing. EPGs thus havethe potential to influence viewers' programming selections. Moreover,the ratings (and thus the rankings) assigned to shows by an EPG systemcan influence viewership for such shows.

[0040]FIG. 2 illustrates a general layout of an exemplary user interface116, as may be used in the present invention, which would be displayedon a television screen. The shows available for viewing are generallygiven in the form of a list of individual shows 120, 124, 126, 128, and130. The user interface 116 also may include various other types ofinformation, such as viewer select buttons 132, 134, 136 for use withinteractive program guides (IPG's). Selection of the desired contentwould be made by means of the remote control unit 108. The userinterface 116 may also include single or multiple informational blocksor windows. For example, the graphic display window 138 provides an areafor the display of paid, sponsored advertising relating to availableshows.

[0041] As described above, the listing of shows is generally presentedin a ranked order, so that shows with the higher ratings are presentedhigher in the list. For example, in FIG. 2, the show 120, at the top ofthe list, has a higher ranking and rating than show 130 at the bottom ofthe listing. Show 120 would therefore be the more likely choice for aviewer.

[0042] The present invention advantageously exploits this potentialinfluence, by providing methods and systems that enable selectiveincreases (or decreases) of ratings and/or rankings of shows in an EPG.

[0043]FIG. 3 shows the basic structure of an EPG as known in the art.Here a recommendation engine, as described above, provides viewingchoices, which are ranked or rated, directly to the user interface 116of the EPG for display and the viewer's television monitor 106.

[0044]FIG. 4 shows, by way of illustration and not limitation, an EPGsystem 110 utilizing the methods and systems of the present invention.The recommendation engine 114 shown therein can be substantiallyidentical to the recommendation engine 114 of FIG. 3. In addition, theuser interface 116 can be substantially similar to the user interfaces116 shown in FIG. 3, differing primarily in that they take their ratingssignals from the traffic engine 118, instead of directly from therecommendation engine 114. The traffic engine 118, is a software modulethat directs content and control data from the server to the userinterface 116.

[0045] Traffic Engine/Boost Value: In turn, the traffic engine 118 ofFIG. 4 bases its ratings on the ratings given by the recommendationengine 114, but modifies such ratings, in accordance with the presentinvention, based on the desires of the television system operator, asembodied by the Boost value for the show in question. Thus, as shown inthe traffic engine 118 of FIG. 4, the modified rating for Show I is afunction of Rating 1 and Boost 1. The modified rating for Show 2 (andthus its position in an ordered, ranked list of shows) is a function ofRating 2 and Boost 2; and the modified rating for Show 3 is a functionof Rating 3 and Boost 3.

[0046] As illustrated in FIG. 5, it is contemplated that a modifiedrating of program content may be achieved by practicing severaldifferent methods as shown. In FIG. 5, the recommendation engine 114creates an initial rating/ranking 140 of recommended television contentfor display in the user interface 116 of the EPG system 110. The trafficengine 118 receives modifying signals according to one or more of theseveral contemplated methods and creates a modified rating/ranking 142of the recommended television content. The modified ratings/ranking arethen displayed in the user interface 116 of the EPG. The contemplatedmethods include but are not limited to the boost value 144, describedabove, as well as imperceptible preferences 146, sponsoredrecommendations 148, and advancement of ordinal boost 150, as will nextbe described.

[0047] Imperceptible Preferences/Boost: In one practice of theinvention, the traffic engine 118 can generate the modified ratings bymultiplying the recommendation provided by the recommendation engine 114by the boost value, such that:

R _(mod) =R _(re) *B.

[0048] In this way, only shows that were of some interest to the viewer(based on the operation of the EPG) will be recommended. If theallowable values of boost are appropriately selected (e.g., values of Btypically between 0.5 and 2.0), the effect of the boost will beimperceptible to most users of the system. As a result, the illustratedsystem and method will enable cable television or other system operatorsto augment, decrease or otherwise manipulate viewership for selectedshows or other content, in a manner substantially imperceptible toviewers.

[0049] Sponsored Recommendations: In another practice of the invention,the selective increase or decrease can take the form of sponsoredrecommendations. In a sponsored recommendation configuration, thetraffic engine 118 assigns to a particular show for which viewership isto be augmented, a “premium” position in a list of recommended showsgenerated by the traffic engine 118. Thus, for example, the top position120, or top two or three positions 120, 122, 124 in a list ofrecommended shows, as illustrated in FIG. 2, can be assigned toparticular shows. In addition, the premium positions occupied bysponsored recommendations can be highlighted or otherwise visuallydistinguished from other positions in a list of recommendationsdisplayed by the EPG, to further attract viewers to select the premiumshows. The sponsored recommendations can also be displayed in the formof graphic advertisements, as in the graphic display window 138, shownin FIG. 2.

[0050] Advancement of Ordinal Position: In another practice of theinvention, a show can be assigned an ordinal boost, such that the showis elevated by one or more positions in an ordered, ranked list ofrecommendations generated by traffic engine 118. For example, aparticular show can be assigned an ordinal boost of 1, such that if itwere otherwise ranked 5th within a list of recommended shows, it wouldbe advanced to 4th. The show otherwise ranked 4th could be displaced or“bumped” downward by the ordinal advancement of the boosted show.

[0051] Consideration for Boost or Placement: In a further aspect of theinvention, the selective increase or decrease can be provided inexchange for receipt of monetary or other consideration from contentproviders, advertisers or others.

[0052] Thus, for example, within the traffic engine 118, the numericalratings received from the recommendation engine 116 for a giventelevision show or other content can be boosted by the selected boostvalue (B) in exchange for monetary or other consideration, in such amanner as to be substantially imperceptible to most viewers or users ofthe system. Similarly, system operators could collect fees forassigning, to a particular show, an ordinal boost or a premium,sponsored recommendation.

[0053] The monetary or other consideration collected can be augmented ormaximized through the process of auctioning premium, sponsoredrecommendation positions in the list, or by collecting greaterconsideration for providing higher values of ordinal or numerical boost.Prices paid for such positions or boost could be linked to any number ofvariables, including temporal duration, time of year, magnitude,perceived desirability and the like. Since television networks, othercontent providers and advertisers will wish to enhance EPG-userviewership for particular shows or entire lineups, it is expected thatdemand, and thus, prices, for premium, sponsored recommendations andnumerical or ordinal boost can be driven higher, to the benefit ofsystem operators. In turn, networks or other content providers withsecured sponsored recommendations for particular shows could obtainhigher prices for advertising affiliated with such shows.

[0054] Given the limitations of on-screen EPG advertising revenuediscussed above in the Background of the Invention, the presentinvention offers cable television or other system operators asignificant vehicle to enhance their revenue, by boosting the ratings orrankings of shows in exchange for monetary consideration. In addition,given the demonstrable relationship between EPG ratings and viewership,the present invention provides methods and systems that enable operatorsof television broadcasting or other content distribution systems toeffectively alter the viewing patterns of viewers or subscribers. Italso gives content providers a way to enhance viewership for particularshows or complete lineups. Cable television or other system operatorscan utilize the invention to direct viewership traffic to contentcarried on pay-per-view or other premium or enhanced-payment channels,thereby providing a form of internal traffic management. The inventionaccomplishes these objectives by enabling selective increases ordecreases in the ratings or recommendations assigned to a televisionshow or other content within an EPG system, in accordance with thedesire of the system operator, content provider or advertiser toincrease or decrease viewership for the show in question.

[0055] Having described the illustrated embodiments of the presentinvention, it will be apparent that modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined by theappended claims.

We claim:
 1. In a content distribution system including an electronicprogramming guide (EPG) having a recommendation process responsive toratings of content to generate recommendations of content to be viewedby a human viewer, a method of modifying viewership traffic, the methodcomprising: configuring, within the EPG, a traffic process operable toreceive a first rating, for first content; within the traffic process,receiving a first rating, for the first content; within the trafficprocess, applying to the received first rating a first boost transformto generate a modified first rating; and displaying, to the humanviewer, at least one recommendation display entry having acharacteristic controlled by the modified first rating; wherein theapplying of the first boost transform is enabled in response to receiptof monetary consideration.
 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:within the traffic process, receiving a second rating, for secondcontent; within the traffic process, applying to the received secondrating a second boost transform to generate a modified second rating;and displaying, to a viewer, at least one recommendation display entryhaving a characteristic controlled by the modified second rating;wherein the applying of the second boost transform is enabled inresponse to receipt of monetary consideration.
 3. The method of claim 2wherein the at least one recommendation display entry is a rank-orderedlist of recommendations of content.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein thefirst and second boost transforms are multiplication transforms whereinthe received rating is multiplied by a boost coefficient to generate amodified rating.
 5. The method of claim 4 wherein the first and secondboost coefficients are selected so that the effect of applying thetransforms is substantially imperceptible to human viewers.
 6. Themethod as in any of claims 2-5 wherein the first and second boostcoefficients are selected at least in part on the basis of the quantumof monetary consideration received.
 7. The method as in any of claims2-5 wherein the applying of the first and second boost transforms isenabled for a selected period of time.
 8. The method of claim 7 whereinthe selected period of time is determined at least in part on the basisof the quantum of monetary consideration received.
 9. The method ofclaims 4 or 5 further comprising a process of receiving bids in exchangefor the offer of enabling the applying of the first and second boosttransforms.
 10. The method of claim 5 wherein the boost coefficients areselected to be approximately within the range of about 0.5 to about 2.0.11. The method as in any of claims 1-10 wherein the traffic process isoperable to apply a boost transform to ratings for content provided onselected channels within a set of channels affiliated with a givencontent provider.
 12. The method of claim 11 wherein the selectedchannels are premium channels, pay-per-view channels, or other enhancedpayment channels within the set of channels affiliated with the contentprovider.
 13. In a content distribution system including an electronicprogramming guide (EPG) operable to generate a rank-ordered list ofcontent to be viewed, a method of modifying viewership traffic, themethod comprising: receiving the rank-ordered list of content;designating, in the rank-ordered list, at least one premium position;applying to the list a transform operable to modify the list byassigning, to the premium position, selected content; and displaying, toa viewer, the modified list with the selected content assigned to thepremium position; wherein the applying of the transform is enabled inresponse to receipt of monetary consideration.
 14. The method of claim13 wherein the selected content is assigned to a plurality of premiumpositions at least in part on the basis of the quantum of monetaryconsideration received in exchange for assignment to each premiumposition.
 15. The method of claim 14 further comprising receiving bidsin exchange for the offer of assigning content to each premium position.16. The method of claim 13 wherein the assignment of content to apremium position is enabled for a selected period of time.
 17. Themethod of claim 16 wherein the selected period of time is determined atleast in part on the basis of the quantum of monetary considerationreceived.
 18. The method as in any of claims 13-17 wherein the selectedcontent is provided on selected channels within a set of channelsaffiliated with a given content provider.
 19. The method of claim 18wherein the selected channels are premium channels, pay-per-viewchannels, or other enhanced payment channels within the set of channelsaffiliated with the content provider.
 20. In a content distributionsystem including an electronic programming guide (EPG) operable togenerate a rank-ordered list of recommended content to be viewed, amethod of modifying viewership traffic, the method comprising: receivingthe rank-ordered list of recommended content; applying to the list atransform operable to ordinally advance, within the list, selectedcontent, thereby to generate a modified list; and displaying themodified list to a viewer; wherein the applying of the transform isenabled in response to receipt of monetary consideration.
 21. The methodof claim 20 wherein the applying of the transform is enabled for aselected period of time.
 22. The method of claim 21 wherein the selectedperiod of time is determined at least in part on the basis of thequantum of monetary consideration received.
 23. The method as in any ofclaims 20-22 wherein the selected content is provided on selectedchannels within a set of channels affiliated with a given contentprovider.
 24. The method of claim 23 wherein the selected channels arepremium channels, pay-per-view channels, or other enhanced paymentchannels within the set of channels affiliated with the contentprovider.
 25. In an electronic programming guide (EPG) having arecommendation process operable to generate ratings of content, a methodof modifying viewership traffic, the method comprising: configuring atraffic process to be operable to receiving ratings from therecommendation process; in the traffic process, receiving from therecommendation process a first rating, for first content; in the trafficprocess, applying to the received first rating a first boost transformto generate a modified first rating; and displaying, to a viewer, atleast one recommendation display entry having a characteristiccontrolled by the modified first rating.
 26. The method of claim 25further comprising: in the traffic process, receiving from therecommendation process a second rating, for second content; in thetraffic process, applying to the received second rating a second boosttransform to generate a modified second rating; and displaying, to aviewer, at least one recommendation display entry having acharacteristic controlled by the modified second rating.
 27. The methodof claim 26 wherein the at least one recommendation display entry is arank-ordered list of recommendations of content.
 28. The method of claim27 wherein the first and second boost transforms are multiplicationtransforms wherein the received rating is multiplied by a boostcoefficient to generate a modified rating.
 29. The method of claim 28wherein the first and second boost coefficients are selected so that theeffect of applying the transforms is substantially imperceptible tohuman viewers.
 30. The method of claim 28 wherein the boost coefficientsare selected to be approximately within the range of about 0.5 to about2.0.
 31. In an electronic programming guide (EPG) operable to generate arank-ordered list of content to be viewed, a method of modifyingviewership traffic, the method comprising: receiving the rank-orderedlist of content; designating, in the rank-ordered list, at least onepremium position; applying to the list a transform operable to modifythe list by assigning, to the premium position, selected content; anddisplaying, to a viewer, the modified list with the selected contentassigned to the premium position.
 32. In an electronic programming guide(EPG) operable to generate a rank-ordered list of recommended televisionshows, a method of modifying viewership traffic, the method comprising:receiving the rank-ordered list of recommended television shows;applying to the list a transform operable to ordinally advance, withinthe list, a selected television show, thereby to generate a modifiedlist; and displaying the modified list to a viewer.
 33. The method as inany of claims 25-32, further comprising: applying the transform inresponse to receipt of monetary consideration.
 34. An electronicprogramming guide (EPG) apparatus operable to modify viewership traffic,the EPG apparatus comprising: recommendation means for generating atleast a first rating, for first content to be viewed; transform means,in communication with the recommendation means, for applying to thefirst rating a first boost transform, to generate a modified firstrating; and display means, in communication with the transform means,for displaying, to a viewer, at least one recommendation display entryhaving a characteristic controlled by the modified first rating.
 35. TheEPG apparatus of claim 34 wherein: the recommendation means is operableto generate a second rating, for second content; the transform means isoperable to apply to the second rating a second boost transform togenerate a modified second rating; and the display means is operable todisplay, to a viewer, at least one recommendation display entry having acharacteristic controlled by the modified second rating.
 36. The EPGapparatus of claim 35 wherein the at least one recommendation displayentry is a rank-ordered list of recommendations of content.
 37. The EPGapparatus of claim 36 wherein the first and second boost transforms aremultiplication transforms, wherein the received rating is multiplied bya boost coefficient to generate a modified rating.
 38. The EPG apparatusof claim 36 wherein the first and second boost coefficients are selectedso that the effect of applying the transforms is substantiallyimperceptible to human viewers.
 39. The EPG apparatus of claim 37wherein the boost coefficients are selected to be approximately withinthe range of about 0.5 to about 2.0.
 40. In an electronic programmingguide (EPG) operable to generate a rank-ordered list of content to beviewed, a viewership traffic apparatus operable to modify viewershiptraffic for at least first content, the apparatus comprising: means forreceiving the rank-ordered list of content to be viewed; means fordesignating, in the rank-ordered list, at least one premium position;transform means for applying to the list a transform operable to modifythe list by assigning, to the premium position, the first content; anddisplay means, in communication with the output of the transform means,for displaying, to a viewer, the modified list with the first contentassigned to the premium position.
 41. In an electronic programming guide(EPG) operable to generate a rank-ordered list of content to be viewed,a viewership traffic apparatus operable to modify viewership traffic forat least first content, the apparatus comprising: means for receivingthe rank-ordered list of content to be viewed; transform means forapplying to the list a transform operable to ordinally advance, withinthe list, the first content, thereby to generate a modified list; anddisplay means, in communication with the output of the transform means,for displaying the modified list to a viewer.
 42. The apparatus as inany of claims 34-41 wherein the transform means is operable to apply thetransform in response to receipt of monetary consideration.